


Don't Forget Where You Belong

by LindsayIsTheCraic



Series: Canon Compliant/Divergence [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Gen, post 4x05, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 09:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10761831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LindsayIsTheCraic/pseuds/LindsayIsTheCraic
Summary: When you're lost, I'll find the way, I'll be your light. You'll never feel like you're alone. I'll make this feel like home.





	Don't Forget Where You Belong

It had been a while since Marcus had been here last.

Between trying to take down Pike, defeat ALIE, and recently trying to find a way to survive a second wave of radiation on its way, Marcus couldn’t stick to his regularly scheduled visits. The neglect was visible.

The Eden Tree had lost many leaves; bare branches stood out like a sore thumb. The branches were brittle, and the slightest touch broke them off. The bark of the trunk was peeling off.

He stood in front of the Eden Tree as he watched another leaf fall off, slowly landing on the Earth. He watched it as it laid there. A slight wind blew through and picked the leaf up and carried it off into the forest. He followed its path and kept staring at the area it last occupied before disappearing.

The similarity of their situation in relation with the Eden Tree gave Marcus chills. It made the reality of their situation settle deeper. He looked back to the Eden Tree and the images from last night flashed in his mind.

Fire. Everywhere.

The Ark in flames, the Ark collapsing. Their solution in flames, their solution collapsing.

The Eden Tree was dying, pieces of it slowly dying off. Time was running out, each solution they had come up with to battle Praimfaya with failed. The Eden Tree was slowly dying; Skaikru was running out of solutions.

“If only you could have seen Earth before this,” Marcus spoke softly. He was alone- just him and the Eden Tree. He knew, however, he truly wasn’t alone. “Before all the war, death, and radiation. If anyone deserved to see it, it was you.”

He crouched down in front of the Eden Tree, tracing a skimpy branch with few leaves still on it. His finger passed over a leaf and it immediately fall off and to the ground. He watched it for a while, before drawing his hand back. “You would’ve loved it,” he added. “It would’ve been everything you taught us about.”

A small, sad smile graced his face. He lowered himself to the ground as he sat down by the Eden Tree. He looked out into the forest, imagining Earth without the constant wars, the constant death, and the hourglass running out over their heads.

Instead, he thought about his mother, on Earth, and the happiness it would’ve brought her. She would be the first person to offer the idea of making gardens from the newly found plants in the forest. She would find the perfect place to plant the Eden Tree. She would be happy.

A sudden surge of pain that radiated up his forearm and through his fingers brought him back to reality- the reality of war, death, and an hourglass that was almost out of sand. It wasn’t the picture perfect image his mother had painted for him as a kid. It was the complete opposite.

“But look what exists here,” he said, his one hand massaging the area around his wrist. “There’s constant fighting which leads to bloodshed and death. Leaders, civilians, children…they’re all becoming victims of war, and at what cost? Soon enough there won’t be an Earth for any victor to claim.”

He massaged a bit further up his forearm, fingers slightly tingling. The little sparks of pain flash the images before his eyes again: flames spreading across the Ark, eliminating their only viable solution to survival. “Once the timer runs out, no one will get to see Earth for what it truly is: home.”

Marcus is answered with a strong gust of wind that ruffles his hair and jacket. He pulled the jacket tighter to himself, thinking maybe it’ll shield him away from the inevitable future. He looked down to his wrists, “Each solution we come up with, to preserve our home, it disappears.”

His voice sounds defeated and Marcus can’t find it in himself to fight against it. He doesn’t feel the hope, he doesn’t feel optimistic. He looks down to the Eden Tree and he can feel his mother lecturing him, just like when he was a child.

She would recite how even though the end seems bleak, that there is light in anything dark. You just have to search for it, and if you believe enough, you’ll find it. She then would give him a smile (oh, how he missed her smile) and tell him everything would be okay.

He needed that; he needed her.

He couldn’t find the light in the dark, and it _scared_ him. He was their leader, their chancellor, and he was supposed to reassure his people that everything would be fine. He was supposed to reassure them they’d find another solution. He was supposed to reassure them that they would survive, just like how they always had.

He couldn’t. He just _couldn’t_ , and he didn’t know what to do.

And that’s how he ended up here.

He felt like he did when he had to decide whether to or not to float Abby. He felt like he did when had to make the decision to float 300 innocent people for the Culling. He felt like he did when had decided to shock lash Abby. He was conflicted and he always came back to the same person to reflect on: Vera Kane.

“We’re out of solutions,” Marcus spoke to no one and someone at the same time, “the only one left is the nightblood solution. The results so far haven’t been promising.”

He looked at his wrists, one person flashing in his mind. Their survival now rested in her hands. He had faith in Abby, he knew she would come through. He was just having a hard time convincing himself it would work as every solution so far kept dying in front of him.

He didn’t want Abby to fail. He didn’t want her to feel the guilt he was feeling if it did fail. He wanted to protect her from that, so he wanted her to succeed, but he couldn’t find it in himself to believe it would work. “The odds are against us,” he told her. “Every solution so far has failed. It’s the like the Earth is telling us that this isn’t our home, that we don’t belong here.”

Marcus knew his mother would disagree with his words, even with all the events that have occurred. She would say it was Earth’s way of telling him that they needed to fight for their home. That if they really wanted to survive, they would find a way. _There has to be another way._

He looked over to the Eden Tree then. He reached out once more, this time tracing the thinning trunk. When his finger reached the ground, a little sprout of green caught his attention. It wasn’t very big, something he wouldn’t have spotted before unless he was paying close enough attention.

It wasn’t higher than an inch out of the ground. It stood out now, green against the brown soil. It was a sapling.

He was fascinated by it. He ran his finger over it, watching as it didn’t crumble beneath the weight. It made him smile slightly.

His eyes went to the Eden Tree and back to the sapling. He saw the similarities between their situation and the two plants but this time he smiled.

The Eden Tree was dying and the sapling was just beginning to grow. The ark solution had dead and now the nightblood solution was in the works.

He watched the sapling again, thinking of how in just a short amount of time that Praimfaya would come rushing in. It seemed as if the sapling could care less, it was going to continue to grow- Praimfaya or not. It seemed as if it was giving Praimfaya the middle finger, telling it, “I don’t care if you can kill me, this my home. I belong here. I will fight for every last day I have here.”

It sparked something in Marcus. He saw a flash of light in the dark.

He looked back to the Eden Tree and he smiled, genuinely. Even though Vera wasn’t here, her influence never left.

The end may seem bleak, but there _is_ a light in everything dark. Marcus can see it now.

The sapling represented the light in the dark. Even though Praimfaya was coming and more than likely going to kill it, that didn’t stop the sapling from growing. It was going to continue to grow until the end, it wasn’t going to stop just because the end seemed bleak.

The light may not be the solution to surviving Praimfaya, but it may be the fight they put forth into trying to survive. As long as they exhaust every solution possible and if in the end they don’t succeed, then they will die knowing they tried to their best to survive.

They can fight to belong here, they can fight for their home till the very end.

He touched one of the leaves on the Eden Tree and it stayed attached. His smile this time was bittersweet. His mother always kept him grounded. In the past, he had made some mistakes but she always stood by him, never abandoning him.

She hadn’t abandoned him then, and she wouldn’t now, even though she wasn’t here with him anymore. She was still guiding him, and he knew she always would.

He would keep fighting for his home; the home he knew his mother believed Earth was. He will believe in Abby and her capability to make the solution work. And if it doesn’t, he will keeping looking for the next solution.

In the end, Marcus will prove they belonged here. He will have fought for their home.

“Thank you, Mom."

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the two songs 'Home' and 'Don't Forget Where You Belong' by One Direction!
> 
> All the love,  
> Lindsay :)


End file.
